|
Used books and ebooks are not analogous. There is no such thing as a used ebook. Otherwise, an author could sell one ebook. That person could then give everyone else in the entire world a copy of his "used ebook".
Used books are a fact of life in a physical book world. However, there are downsides to used books. They aren't in as nice a condition. They are hither, thither, helter skelter. If you want ANY book, used books are easy. If you want a PARTICULAR book, it's a bit harder to find it used (less so in today's internet world, but you do have to pay for shipping and wait).
Not so for ebooks. Every copy of an ebook is the same. There is no declining quality. There is no extra hassle. There's basically no incentive to buy a new ebook verses a pirated ebook in terms of the quality of the book (talking about cracked versions, not scans).
Whether piracy fulfills the marketing niche similar to used books or not is not relevant. It is the author/publisher who has the right to decide whether they wish to seed the market with free copies of their work.
To decide on one's own to pirate a book -- that's just theft, and pirates are thieves...not "used book buyers".
Lee
|